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One thing about Sony you can always rely on is that it will always find its own way of doing things, usually flying in the face of industry standards. Remember Betamax video cassettes, or MiniDisc? Those were both Sony inventions.

It’s the same with digital memory cards. Since I review a lot of different cameras and other gadgets, I have a large number of different kinds of memory cards. I have CompactFlash, SD, MMC, xD-Picture, and I’ve even still got a few old SmartMedia cards lying around somewhere. I also have a selection of MemorySticks for when I have to review Sony cameras, because of course Sony has to have a type of memory card that nobody else uses. So imagine my delight when I received the DSC-T5, and discovered that it won’t accept standard MemorySticks, only the smaller Memory Stick Duo. I don’t have any of those, and the camera does not come supplied with one, so I was only able to use the camera’s internal memory, enough for just 12 full-resolution shots.

The DSC-T5 is the latest in Sony’s line of ultra-slim snapshot cameras, and has a broadly similar specification to the other cameras in the T series, such as the T7, T33, T3 and others, since all of them have a 5MP sensor and 3x optical zoom lens. It is certainly an attractively designed camera, and at just 20.3mm thick and 139g including battery and card it is one of the skinniest and lightest cameras on the market. It can slip into a shirt pocket with barely a bulge, making it ideal for social occasions. Priced at around £210 online, or £279.99 in the High Street, it is competing with the likes of the Pentax Optio S5n, the Canon IXUS 55 and the Olympus FE-5500.

For the most part the T5 is a well-made camera, with a durable metal body and a rounded shape that gives it an inherent strength. In keeping with its role as a simple snapshot camera the controls are kept to a minimum, and are sensibly laid out. The rear panel is dominated by a big 2.5in LCD monitor, which with a resolution of 230,400 pixels is one of the sharpest I’ve seen on any camera.